Just got to thinking about why do I ride, sell and design skiboards. Obviously, I’m into this sport as more than just a business, and for good reason. Skiboards make riding the slopes almost effortless right from the start and then it just gets better and better and better, rapidly. No more hassling with equipment (what a relief) or having to attend to turning, stopping, deciding if I can take a particular run. True freedom is my experience. I get to fully enjoy the day riding with friends and family and loving being outdoors.
I still find that most people at the mountain either look at me oddly or ask “what are they?” and this is after 17 years. Obviously these are not mainstream riding tools on the slopes, not sure they ever will be. Riding skiboards, you’re no longer “in-the-box”, doing what everyone else does. As such, not just the skiboards, but this very act frees skiboarders from the conventional. The stage is set to not only have fun, but really know true liberation.
It’s interesting that it was right at the time I was finishing my doctoral dissertation that skiboards emerged on the scene. What I was investigating was the experience of the Zone in sports, those moments when you completely let go into the experience, thinking stops, and you become fully present in the moment. Pure joy is the result.
This happens after a person is completely confident in their sport. And, here is where skiboards come in. The learning curve is so short, it’s so easy to master snowriding, that it frees you to experience the Zone on a regular basis. This experience is usually only known by long term skiers and snowboarders (who have paid their dues). Now the experience is available to anyone and to me, that is why I love skiboards. Living out of the box, playing on the mountain, enjoying the sheer pleasure of going anywhere you care to, a whole new adventure emerges and every day brings something new to explore.
This is the truth about skiboards. Stepping out of the whole ski/snowboard paradigm, a person is truly free to enjoy frequent moments of ecstasy flowing down the slopes, at one with the whole experience. And I am in the unique position to hear from people all over the world who are having the same experience as I. Skiboards impact more than just your snowriding abilities, it opens you to the feeling of being fully alive.
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